Dispensing fixture for web material



May 27 ,1924.

T. 'JOHNSON' msrnusme FIXTURE FOR WEB MATERIAL Filed Nov. 13. 1923 Patented May 27, 1924.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE T. JOHNSON, 0F NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO THE GEORGE T JOHNSON COM- PANY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OI MASSACHUSETTS.

DISPENSING FIXTURE FOR W EB MATERIAL.

. Application filed November 13, 1923 Serial No. 674,483.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE T. JOHNSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York, in the county of New York, State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Dispensing Fixtures for Web Material, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings. My present invention is in the nature of an improvement upon the dispensing fixture of United States Letters Patent to me No. 1,399,432, granted under date of Dec. 6, 1921.

The general object of the invention is to provide a fixture of the type and general construction shown and described in my said Letters Patent, better. adapted to the dispensing of web-material from rolls of different widths. 'In particular, an aim of the invention. is to provide a construction in which the spring-pressed movable plate or brake, which in the fixture of the Letters Patent resists the unwinding rotation of the roll, maybe adjusted to suit the width of roll without afiecting. the degree of frictional resistance. to the unwinding revolution of the roll when in place within the fixture.

An illustrative embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a plan view of a dispensing fixture having the invention applied thereto, a portion of the ,movable plate or brake being broken away, and a roll of web material being indicated in dotted lines.

2 is a view of the same in section on a horizontal plane, a roll being partly shown in full lines, the remainder of the roll in dotted lines. f I

7 Having reference to the.drawings,i The features in general of. thedispensing fixture to'whichf the invention is shown applied comprise a wall-plate 1 which is adapted to be secured toa wallor other surface; two arms 2 and 3.which are pivotally combined with said wall-plate and respectively provided at the ends thereof with rollsupporting hubs 4, and. 5 adapted to'fit within the hollow' core 6 of the roll of web-materail 7 and a spindleB that isxfixedly engaged with the headportionof hub5' at9, the free end of said spindle occupying. a central hole in hub 4 in the closed condition 7 of the fixture. Hub 4'is provided with a flange 10 in fixed relation therewith, for frictional enga'gement with one end of roll 7, and hub 5 is provided with a springpressed flange 11 for frictional engagement with the other end of the said :roll. As thus far-referred to, the parts resemble those of I the prior: Letters Patent, except that wallplate 1, the: arms, and their hubs, consist of stamped or pressed sheet-metal instead of castings; This,'h0wever, is not material so. far as the invention is concerned. The means of locking the fixture in closed condition,'forn1ing no part of the present invention, comprises in thisinstance latch 14 occupying alongitudinalslot in the spindle near the free end of the latter, and adapted to slide lengthwise within'the said slot. The bottom of the'said slot at the end of the latter toward the extremity of the spindle is sloped to constitute a cam-surface. The latch is notched in its outer edge, the notch being occupied by. a pin 15 projecting inward from a loose collar 16- that is slidably mounted on the spindle. A weak expanding spring. 17..surr.ounding the spindle acts against. the said collar 16 with a tendency to press the collar, and consequently the latch 14,'toward the extremity of spindle 8, as in" shell of said hub around the hole that is occupied bythe spindle,-to lock the hub and spindle together. 'Thereby'the fixture is locked in closed. condition. Unlocking is ef'fected,.to permit opening of the fixture,

by manual displacement of collar 16 along spindle 8 inwardaway from hub 4, so as to move the latch along the slot i'n'the spindle away from the cam-surface. "Thereby the latch is rendered'free to move radially inward toward the axis ofthe spindle, which enablesthe fixture to be opened by separating the arms. .In thefoperation of closing the fixture, the engagement between the edge of the hole in hub 4 and the hump or enlargement of the latch operates topush the latch and collar along the spindle, compressing the spring 17, until the change in the position of the latch relative to the cam-surface leaves the latch free to be pressed radially inward, whereupon the said edge of the hole in hub 1 passes over and beyond thehurnp or enlargement of the latch, following'which spring 17 acts to return collar 16 and the latch toward the extremity of the spindle and the cam-surface projects the .latch radially outward to lock the spindle-end and hub 4- 'to each other. The principle of operation of a dispens ng fixture of the type to which the invention relates is that of retarding the unwinding action of the roll through friction developed by pressure upon the end surfaces of the roll. In the Letters Patentaforesaid, this retarding or braking action .is efiected by means of a spring-pressed movable plate or, brake similar to that shown at 11 in the present invention, which is forced inwardly against the corresponding end surface of the roll by a tension-spring surrounding the spindle and confined between the outer side or face of said movable plate and the central portion of the hub corresponding to. hub 5 ofthe present Fig. 2. The construction shown and described in such Letters Patent has the drawback that it has nothing to compensate for the fact that with such arrangement of the tension-spring, acting directly against the movable plate,

the extent of .the endwise compression of thespring, and consequently the tension of thespring, varies in proportion 'tothe width of roll Whichis applied to the fixture, so

, that'when a wide roll is put in place the resulting increased tension of the spring forces the movable plate against the end of the roll' more powerfully, with increased frictional resistance to the unwinding rotation of the roll upon the fixture. Thus by reason of the want of provisionafor com pensation the tension may become entirely too great in the case of a wide roll. 4

In the case of the illustrative embodiment ofthe present invention that isshown here- 1 shoulder 81 inner end'of the sleeve limits the extent of in, a tension spring 12 is applied to the left-hand end-portionof the spindle 8 between the cen'tral portion of hub 5 and a sleeve '13 fitting loosely upon the spindle 8'. upon the spindle Sat the the endwise movement of the sleeve produced by the tend'ency 'of'the spring to expand. The exterior of the sleeve 13 is provided with screw-threads and the movable plate or brake 11 has an integrally formed hubportion 110 which is correspondingly threaded interiorly to engage the screw-threads on the exterior ofthe sleeve 13. A knurled flange 13O 'is provided at the" inner end of i said sleeve 13' to enable such sleeve to be easily rotated .byhand, .The spokes or radial It will be evident that through rotation of.

the exteriorly threaded sleeve 13 when no roll of material is on the fixture the movable plate 11 may be shifted along the axis of i spindle 8 toward or from the hub 4 at the opposite side of the fixture without in any way altering the tension of spring 12. This enables the plate 11 to be positioned properly to suit a wide roll without any resulting change in the spring tension; Adj ustment of the operative spring tension may however be effected by an initial positioningof the plate 11 so that the closing of the fixture with a roll in position will involve an out-' ward displacement of the plate 11 proportioned to the amount of tensiondesired. or" instance, if the movable plate or brake 11 is set initially, by rotation of the sleeve 13, to. stand a given distance nearer the opposing plate 10 tlianthe width of a particular roll which it is desired to apply to the fixture, the adjustment will enable the desired extent of axially-directed pressure to be exerted on the ends of such roll to check its rotation, regardless of the Width itself.

It will be seen, therefore, that the fixture can be adjusted to handleall Widths of rolls within the limits of its capacity, with any desired degree of pressure from the movable plate or brake -11 to retard the unwinding, uncontrolled by the length ofthe roll itself. An important feature of the present ar rangement is that the same adjustment, accomplished by rotating the sleeve 13, enables the pressure of the movable plate 11 against any one particular roll to be varied to increase or decrease the braking effect. v

An important advantage gained the construction shown the the hub 110 is able to slip over the spring a wide roll. Thus the range of different drawings is that V widths of'rolls accommodated by any particular fixture is increased type without sacrifice of the compactness of the fixture; whereasin the prion type the over the prior presence of the tension spring betweenfthe 'movable plate or brakefand the adjacent side-arm of the fixture reduced the extent of the outward brake.

The inneren'd'of thesleeve 13 serves as an abutment between which and the colflar 16 .of the locking device the spring17'is con-' fined and compressed.

VVhat'is claimed as the inventionig A I -1. A dispensing fixture comprising opposite side-arms provided with roll-support ing hubs, a spindle, and a non-rotatable movement of said plate or tee plate adapted to be pressed against the end of a roll to retard rotation, and having a plate-carrier constituted by a sleeve slidably mounted on the said spindle and upon which the said plate is mounted With capacity for adjustment axially of said sleeve, and a tension spring pressing the sleeve inwardly to bear the plate against the roll-end.

2. A dispensing fixture comprising sidearms, a spindle and roll-suporting means adapted to receive a roll of thematerial to be dispensed, and having an exteriorly threaded sleeve rotatable upon said spindle, a spring pressing said sleeve inwardly along said spindle, and a brake adapted to contact With the end of the roll of material in screw-threaded engagement with the said exteriorly threaded sleeve, and adjustable axially of the spindle through rotation of the sleeve.

3. A dispensing fixture comprising oppo site" side-arms, roll-supporting means, a spindle, a plate-carrier constituted by a sleeve slidably mounted on the said spindle, a tension-spring mounted upon the spindle at the outer end of said sleeve, and a nonrotatable plate adapted to be pressed through the action of the said spring against the end of a roll to retard rotation, said plate having a hub fitted to the exterior of the sleeve, adjustable along the latter, and adapted to extend outward beyond the outer end of the sleeve, encircling the said tension-spring, as the plate is adjusted outward for rolls of increased Width.

GEORGE T. JOHNSON. 

